“Rent-a-girlfriend? Xiaorui, you’re going to do that?”

At the door of the Information Engineering building’s assigned classroom, after hearing Chen Xiaorui’s proposal, the boy in front of me—only a little taller than me—barely paused before agreeing right away.

“Sure. If you want to do it, I’ve got no objections.”

“A-Qing, do you not like me anymore?”

Seeing that her boyfriend had agreed without even trying to talk her out of it, Chen Xiaorui instantly lost her cool.

“Do you even know what a rent-a-girlfriend does?”

“Yeah.”

The boy looked completely calm.

“Someone pays, and you go be his temporary girlfriend. It’s been pretty popular in Xiangcao lately.”

“What do you mean by that?”

After saying that, as if he’d suddenly remembered something, the boy gave Chen Xiaorui a once-over.

“Don’t tell me this is another test for me?”

“Hey! Beauty!”

“Pretty girl, over here!”

While the two of them were talking, boys inside the classroom ahead kept whistling at me.

“Beauty, can I add your WeChat? Gimme your contact!”

“Her name’s Xiaoxue. You’re in Software Class 2 and don’t know that? Calling her ‘beauty’ is so lame. Anyone hearing that would think you’re harassing her.”

“Xiaoxue! Add my WeChat! I wanna be your boss too!”

Chen Xiaorui’s boyfriend was from Software Class 1. Information Engineering, Software Class 1. Same as us, his counselor was Gao Yu. His real name was Ye Qing. He wasn’t tall, and he wasn’t handsome either—under 1.7 meters. But since Chen Xiaorui herself was pretty short, the two of them looked fairly well-matched standing together.

For some reason, maybe because I’d read and written too many novels in my last life, every time I heard surnames like Ye, Xiao, or Lin, I always got the feeling this person was the protagonist of some overpowered wish-fulfillment novel.

Ye Liangchen, Ye Xiu, Ye Feng...

Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river—Xiaorui, don’t bully me just because I’m poor now!

“I don’t have that much time to test you!”

This “Ye Qing” was much calmer than Chen Xiaorui by nature. But it was exactly that calmness—this calmness of “I know my girlfriend’s going to spend time with another guy”—that made Chen Xiaorui flare up at once.

“You’d better not regret this!”

Uh...

Xiaorui, is your next line going to be... “You lowly live-in son-in-law of the Ye family, watch your mouth”?

“I actually think it’d be good for you to go interact with some other guys.”

The boy’s face was still full of that breezy calm.

“You’ve been way too emotional these past few days, Xiaorui. Anyway, I don’t believe someone with your personality can really do companion work.”

“Fine. You said it.”

Chen Xiaorui pulled out her phone.

“I’m signing the contract right now!”

“Calm down.”

Seeing things going south, I quickly stepped between them. First I signaled Chen Xiaorui not to sign, then I turned to the boy.

“Classmate, no matter what, she’s still your girlfriend. Isn’t it a bit inappropriate to talk like that?”

“It’s fine. We’re always like this.”

The boy shrugged.

“She’s always unhappy when I play games, and then she gets upset over all kinds of little things. Yesterday I spent half the day shopping with her. We agreed that when we got back, I could play a bit. I was in the middle of a team fight when her call came in. If I answered, my team could’ve wiped. If I didn’t, she’d get mad. What was I supposed to do?”

“This little butt is childish as hell. I think she should go meet some male clients and get a taste of how cold society really is. As long as she doesn’t come back with nothing but bad reviews.”

“Ye Qing, you—!”

Chen Xiaorui’s face flushed red.

“Who are you calling little butt?”

“You.”

The boy looked unconcerned.

“If you’re really that capable, then sign it. I’ve never hired a companion player before, but I’ve watched plenty of videos. You think this kind of job is really that easy?”

“Fine, Ye Qing. You’ve got some nerve.”

At that, Chen Xiaorui turned and ran straight for the stairwell without looking back.

“I’ll sign it! I’m done with you!”

“...”

Watching the girl disappear around the corner of the stairs, I said helplessly, “Is this really okay?”

“Xiaorui isn’t bad at heart. She just doesn’t understand why I’m always gaming.”

The boy seemed a little surprised that I was talking to him.

“I run gold groups in games. I make two to three thousand yuan a month from it. When a new raid drops, five or six thousand isn’t a problem. Worst case, I’ll just rent her myself when the time comes. No big deal.”

This...

With guys like this, should I say he’s too calm and rational, or just too rigid?

Still, their relationship seemed a lot better than I’d expected...

“What Xiaorui actually wants is an attitude. I think that’s probably why you two keep fighting.”

I walked over to the boy’s side.

“You could try being a little... a little more cheesy. Say more sweet things, stuff like that.”

I could pretty much see their problem now.

Chen Xiaorui was the type of girl with a very girly personality. She wanted her boyfriend to be more romantic, to care about her more. But on the guy’s side, he just happened to be the absolute rationalist type. If two people like that got together and didn’t fight or go cold on each other all the time, that’d be the weird part.

“Cheesy?”

The boy froze for quite a while because of what I said.

“Y-you’re sure?”

“I’m not sure. It’s just a suggestion.”

I smiled.

“My personality is the complete opposite of Xiaorui’s.”

Chen Xiaorui was the kind of girl who responded to softness, not force. Once you found the right approach, girls like that were actually easy to get along with.

Like just now—if the guy had pulled out a little cake the moment he saw Chen Xiaorui coming over to confront him, then hugged her and clung to her while saying things like, “My dear wife, I was wrong,” or “Please accept this ice cream, my dear wife,” I felt there was a very good chance Chen Xiaorui would’ve gone from tears to laughter, then awkwardly huffed out something like, “Hmph, I forgive you.”

But if it were me, we probably wouldn’t have even started fighting in the first place.

Boyfriend playing games? Not answering my call? Thinking the game matters more than me?

Oh. Isn’t that normal?

A game has thousands upon thousands of people behind it. So many engineers, operations staff, planners. So much money burned. So many years of effort from so many people, all to forge that one blade in the end. Why would I compare myself to a game? It’s not like I’m some rich heiress worth hundreds of millions. Why would I get jealous over that?

If I ever really got a boyfriend one day, and that guy gave up a raid and left his team just because of one unimportant call from me, I’d probably shove his face onto the keyboard and make him apologize to the teammates he screwed over.

As long as a man wasn’t neglecting his career, work, or studies because of games, wasn’t using them to escape real life, and wasn’t recklessly dumping money into gacha until his family fell apart, then I didn’t think there was anything wrong with that kind of hobby.

“Anyway, love is something between two people. If Xiaorui is someone you see as a partner you could marry, then I’d suggest the two of you find time to sit down and really talk.”

...

“Xiaorui...”

When I got back to the dorm, I found Chen Xiaorui once again burying her head under her pillow like an ostrich, sticking her little butt up on the bed.

“I signed. I’m waiting for a client now.”

“Oh...”

For a moment, I didn’t know what to say, so I changed the subject.

“I’m heading out in a bit. To Shuiming Park. Want me to bring anything back?”

“What are you going to Shuiming Park for?”

The girl on the bed lifted her head.

“Did a client hire you to go there?”

“No. I’m going to return a favor.”

I sat down at the computer desk and went back to working on the wooden cabin assembly from this morning.

“Return a favor? Xiaoxue, did someone give you a gift?”

“Of course. Otherwise where do you think those cosplay outfits came from? I can’t afford clothes that expensive.”

“Ah...”

Chen Xiaorui poked her head out from the bed, curious.

“You’re planning to give that client this... this little wooden house?”

“He doesn’t lack money.”

I glued the finished cabin onto the wooden raft base of the manor.

“A heartfelt gift is enough.”

Wang Lei was a rich second-gen young master. I knew he didn’t lack money, but I also couldn’t just accept so many expensive things from him with a clear conscience.

Compared to those cosplay outfits, JK uniforms, and Lolita dresses, this little house I’d pieced together from bamboo skewers I bought at the supermarket for less than ten yuan was basically worthless. But I knew very well that only a gift like this was suitable for Wang Lei.

The wooden house in my hands was about twenty centimeters long and wide. With the base and the fences on both sides, it was around twenty-five. The door could open, and inside were miniature furniture pieces like a bed and a table. Around the manor were a windmill, tree stumps, and fences. Altogether, it looked like a pure bamboo-crafted art piece.

To make this little manor, I had no idea how many bamboo skewers I’d cut up or how much super glue I’d used.

Back when I’d just graduated college in my last life, I’d done almost every kind of job—waitress, cashier, delivery worker, food courier... This kind of wooden house was something I learned while working customer service at a handmade arts-and-crafts shop. That store specialized in little things like this. It had a Taobao shop online, and the owner had bought up keywords like “Qixi gift” and “gift for girlfriend,” so as long as a guy searched for gifts, our store would pop up.

Something that cost less than ten yuan to make could sell for over a hundred as soon as you labeled it “purely handmade.” With packaging included, you could even sell it for three hundred.

To make this thing, my hands had gotten stuck with super glue plenty over the past few days. I had to wash them forever every day. But luckily, I still managed to recreate it from memory in the end.

“Boss, I’m here to buy spicy strips again... Huh? Yuqing’s not here?”

While I was doing the craftwork, probably because the dorm door was open, girls kept coming in every few minutes from outside wanting to buy things. Every time that happened, I had to put down what I was doing and go serve them.

“Yuqing and the others have class today.”

“Huh? Aren’t you in the same class as them?”

“No. We’re in software. They’re in e-commerce. We don’t have class today. Take a look and see what you want.”

Working on and off like that for more than two hours, I finally finished the entire bamboo-skewer manor before eleven. Then I packed it into a handmade gift box, tied it shut with a bow, and sealed it.

“Xiaorui, I’m heading out. Do you want to watch the shop?”

I climbed onto the girl’s bed and found her watching companion-player videos.

“Huh? No way. I don’t even have shares in it.”

After hearing my voice, Chen Xiaorui took off her headphones.

“Xiaoxue, just close the door when you leave and make it look like nobody’s inside.”

“Okay.”

After getting down from the bed, I took out my phone and found Wang Lei’s number among my pitifully small contact list.

“Beep— Hello? Xiaoxue?”

The call was picked up after just one ring. Wang Lei’s young voice came through the phone, clearly tinged with teasing.

“What, are you calling for an after-sales service interview?”

I tried to make my voice sound as gentle as possible.

“Yes. Where are you right now?”

“At the shop. We’ve got a promotion going on today, so it’s pretty busy.”

“That Leixiang Pet Supplies store? Next to Shuiming Park?”

“You know it? Yeah, I’m over here.”

“Alright.”

I walked over to my desk and pulled out the box of clothes from underneath.

“I’ll be there in about half an hour.”

“What are you coming over for?”

“Just like you said...”

I switched to a playful tone too.

“An after-sales service interview.”